The Natural History Museum’s annual fossil-filled festival returns Aug. 30 with paleontologists, rare specimens, hands-on activities and enough prehistoric muscle to fill an entire Sunday. For one late-summer day, Los Angeles will turn the clock back several million years.
The 11th annual Dino Fest takes over the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County on Sunday, Aug. 30, bringing visitors face-to-face with the fossils, scientists and discoveries that continue to reshape what we know about prehistoric life.
World-renowned paleontologists from NHM’s Dinosaur Institute and other research institutions will be on hand to discuss their work and the science behind the bones. Guests can examine rare specimens from the museum’s collections, including Triceratops and T. rex fossils from the end of the Cretaceous period.
The museum’s Dinosaur Hall provides the heavyweight attraction: a three-specimen T. rex growth series showing the predator at different stages of life. It is the kind of family portrait only a paleontologist could love—and one that makes the average school photo look considerably less intimidating.
Dino Fest also stretches beyond the animals that ruled the land. Inside L.A. Underwater, visitors can explore a much older version of the city, when the Los Angeles Basin sat beneath the Pacific Ocean and marine creatures occupied neighborhoods that had yet to exist.
Throughout the day, families can join hands-on activities, shop for dinosaur-inspired merchandise and take part in a LEGO Build the Change experience. The festival also looks beyond extinction to examine the animals that survived the end of the Age of Dinosaurs and the scientific clues they left behind.
NHM holds more than 12 million paleontology specimens—the largest collection of its kind on the West Coast. Dino Fest pulls some of that research out of the archives and places it directly in front of the public, giving young visitors a chance to meet the people doing the digging, preparation and detective work.
Come for the T. rex. Stay long enough, and somebody in the family may leave wanting to become a paleontologist.
For more information about the brand visit nhm.org
Address:Â Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles
When: Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Museum members receive early access from 9–10 a.m.
Getting There
Parking:Â The NHM Car Park at 3724 Bill Robertson Lane charges a $20 flat rate. Parking is limited and credit card only.
Metro:Â Take the E Line to Expo/USC or Expo/Vermont. Visitors who show a TAP card at check-in receive $2 off museum admission.
Photo credits: Photo courtesy of Natural History Museum
